Take Shelter (2011)

Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.

Director:

Jeff Nichols

Writer:

Jeff Nichols

Stars:

Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham

33 wins & 18 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Shannon	...	Curtis
Jessica Chastain	...	Samantha
Tova Stewart	...	Hannah
Shea Whigham	...	Dewart
Katy Mixon	...	Nat
Natasha Randall	...	Cammie
Ron Kennard	...	Russell
Scott Knisley	...	Lewis
Robert Longstreet	...	Jim
Heather Caldwell	...	Special Ed Teacher
Sheila Hullihen	...	Woman in Road
John Kloock	...	Man in Road
Marianna Alacchi	...	Bargain Hunter
Jacque Jovic	...	News Anchor
Bob Maines	...	Walter Jacobs

Storyline

Curtis, a father and husband, is starting to experience bad dreams and hallucinations. Assuming mental illness, he seeks medical help and counseling. However, fearing the worst, he starts building an elaborate and expensive storm shelter in their backyard. This storm shelter threatens to tear apart his family, threatens his sanity and his standing in the community, but he builds it to save his family's life.

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Plot Keywords:

Storm | Storm Shelter | Illness | Backyard | Tears | 

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 November 2011 (Croatia)

Also Known As:

U zaklon

Filming Locations:

Elyria, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$52,041 (USA) (30 September 2011)

Gross:

$1,729,969 (USA) (16 March 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Hydraulx, REI Capital, Grove Hill Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

As it is mentioned in the DVD special features, the extras in the group lunch at the Lion's Club were only told they would get free lunch and be in a movie. They had no idea the scene would escalate to a physical fight and (seemingly) psychotic rant.

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Goofs

Curtis and Shannon live in LaGrange, Ohio. However, Curtis's truck has Erie County tags on its license plates. LaGrange is in Lorain County, one county to the east.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Curtis: [to daughter] No, no, no. Don't feed the dog, darling.

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Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: 50/50 (2011)
Movie reviewed in this episode.

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Soundtracks

"Shelter"
Written & Performed by Ben Nichols

User Reviews

A compelling, flawless film.

Wow. This movie was powerful, and it was written, acted, directed, and edited to perfection. Easily one of the best films of 2011.

Jessica Chastain is fantastic in this movie. Michael Shannon's performance is sublime, and his character is drawn perfectly. Every year, there are a handful of films that enter and leave theaters very quietly, then pop up out of nowhere to appear all over critics' year-end lists. Take Shelter premiered last year at Sundance and ran the festival circuit, picking up a handful of awards along the way, before opening in limited release back in September. Though it failed to make enough money to recoup its already modest $5 million budget, critics raved about the film and its central performance by Michael Shannon. Shannon plays Curtis LaForche, an Ohio family man who begins dreaming about an apocalyptic storm. Deciding at first to keep the dreams to himself, Curtis pours all of his energy into building a storm shelter in his back yard; his obsession with the shelter eventually strains all the meaningful relationships in his life. A piece of subtle, nuanced filmmaking, I feel Michael Shannon's performance alone made the film worth seeing, but the film itself is a perfect blend of drama and dread. It's a slow-burn psychological mind-bender that builds tension gradually, so it's not for everyone, but you can be sure you'll be witnessing some top notch filmmaking if you watch it.

I find it easy to reconcile both that he is becoming mentally ill, and that he has some prophetic vision.

A phenomenal film.